More Than Partners
by J.D. Cunegan
Summary: One-Shot: A re-imagining of the opening scene in "After the Storm," without Martha interrupting. A much-needed conversation I wish we'd actually seen on the show.


"But I, um…did just quit my job, and…I do have the day off."

Kate Beckett's features morphed from serious to playful in the few seconds it took her to utter those words, wearing one of Richard Castle's shirts and not a damn thing else. His mind was still blazing, reliving the night before, relishing in the fact that…it happened. It actually, finally, honestly happened.

All those years of teasing. All those close calls. The near-misses. The heartaches. The other men. The other women. None of those things mattered anymore, because there sat the love of his life, nearly naked in his bed, having brought him coffee.

She stole his heart. Then his shirt. Then his move. If it were possible for Castle to love Kate any more than he already did, he feared his heart would burst.

"I, uh…" Castle let his eyes drift downward, his fingers undoing the buttons on the shirt. "I do too."

"Hm." Kate lifted her chin, a sly grin playing across her lips. "Really."

"Yes."

"Hm."

"So, what would you, um," Castle brushed Kate's hair behind her shoulder before doing the same thing to the shirt, "like to do today?" Even as he spoke, his eyes flickered downward again, landing on the scar on her chest - the same one with which he spent much of the previous night familiarizing himself.

"Um," she teased, glancing out at the sun, "I dunno. We could read."

Castle stroked his fingers against her newly-bare shoulder. "We could watch TV."

"We could get something to eat…"

"Could do that, yeah…"

Kate leaned in, kissing him. It wasn't quite the frantic encounter she'd greeted him with the night before, when they were both wracked with emotion, frayed to the bitter ends by all they had endured to that point. But it was just as sweet, and as their lips met, their tongues intertwining and dancing against each other, she shed the shirt and tossed it to the floor – all while he pushed the covers off of himself.

She relished in the sensation of his fingers working up her back before tangling themselves in her hair. Kate broke the kiss for a moment, trailing one of her fingers over his chin. They stared into each other's eyes, and she once again found herself unable to believe this actually happened.

A smile tickled the corners of her mouth before she sat back and took Castle's hand into her own. They hadn't done much talking the night before, and though she loved every moment of their not-talking, the fact was they had things to iron out.

"Castle." She squeezed his hand. "Can we talk for a sec?"

Castle sat up a little straighter, trying to keep the worry out of his eyes. He glanced down at their entwined hands, squeezing hers in return. "Yeah, sure."

She broke eye contact briefly, momentarily allowing sadness to take over. Truth was, she wasn't sure what she was – who she was – if she wasn't a cop, and frankly, she was getting tired of having a near-death experience seemingly every other week.

The only thing she was sure of right now was the man sitting in front of her, the fact that he'd been there through everything. He had been there for her, whether she'd wanted him to be or not, and he'd been so integral to her life that she couldn't imagine it without him – which was why she shuddered to think of the day before, when he walked out of her apartment with tears in his eyes.

"Castle, I'm sorry…"

He squeezed her hand again. "Me too."

"Rick, you don't have to—"

"Yes. I do." His eyes were steely, determined. Even when he was sleepy, with bags under his eyes, Castle could still stare deep into her soul. "I should've told you about those phone calls. I was wrong to keep that from you."

"No, you were right." She pulled in a deep breath, staring out the window. This whole opening-up thing was still foreign to her, but she needed to make the effort. If they were to ever have a relationship, she had to be open with him.

"If you'd have told me, I would've demanded to know who it was. I would've poured all of myself into it and I would've wound up dead. As it is, I…"

She looked down at their hands, holding onto his as tightly as she could. Castle sat up and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and kissing her right temple. "Hey." His voice was barely a whisper. "You didn't die. Okay? You're still here."

She pulled out of Castle's embrace with a sniffle, nearly flinching when she felt his thumb brush away a stray tear. Kate looked into his eyes, overwhelmed by the fear and the awe and the uncertainty building to a boil inside her.

"When I was hanging off the ledge…" She swallowed hard. "I heard footsteps, and…I thought I heard your voice. I called your name. And you kept answering. It was you. I _swore_ it was you." Kate squeezed his hand again, looking down in an attempt to hide the tears threatening to fall.

"You grabbed my wrist." Her voice was ragged, shaky. "You pulled me back up. But…it was Ryan."

Castle gave a sad smile. "Remind me to buy him a drink."

"Yeah, well, don't get too happy with him." She heaved a sigh. "He told Gates everything. That's why Javi and I got suspended, which was when I quit."

Castle rubbed his thumb over the top of Kate's hand, making small circles over the skin. He watched her shoulders hunch, the way unruly strands of hair framed her face. He gave her hand another squeeze before pulling her into another embrace.

"You're still alive, Kate." His voice, while still soft, was firm. "That's all I care about."

Kate smiled and rest her head on his shoulder. "I don't just mean yesterday."

She repositioned herself in his arms so she could look at him again, a twinge of regret in her gaze. "I mean…everything." She trailed a finger along his collarbone and he ran his fingers through her hair. "I've known for a while, how you felt. I think I knew even before you told me."

Pulling Kate closer against him, Castle watched her and kept silent. He knew how hard opening up was for her, and he knew it was best to give her the time she needed to get out whatever she needed to get out. Now wasn't the time to push.

"I'm sorry for taking you for granted." She met his gaze. "I'm sorry for Demming. I'm sorry for Josh. I'm sorry that I kept pushing you away. I'm sorry that…every time it felt like we were getting closer, I just…ran away."

He kissed Kate's forehead, letting her words stew in his mind. All those times Martha and Alexis had told him to cut his losses, to finally admit what wasn't meant to be and save himself the heartache, and yet here he was – in bed with the love of his life, with the two of them having a meaningful, adult conversation about their relationship.

He felt vindicated, to a degree. His family questioned why he held on as long as he did, and the truth of the matter was, part of him knew she felt the same way. He had no idea what to do with that knowledge, especially when he was trying to navigate his own minefield of emotion, but deep down, Richard Castle always knew that Kate Beckett loved him.

"How long?" he asked, no glee in his voice.

Kate sighed, looking down before meeting his gaze again. "Couple years." She swallowed again. "Remember when I wanted to talk to you, and then Gina showed up?"

Castle cringed and shook his head. He suddenly felt guilty; the whole reason he had left, reunited with his second ex-wife, was because he thought Kate was with Detective Demming. He'd decided he couldn't bear that reality, so he had removed himself from the equation.

"And yet here we are." Castle gave her shoulder a squeeze, remorse in his eyes.

Kate smiled, resting her head on his chest. "Here we are."

"When we were in that tent," Castle's fingers brushed against her shoulder, "and you were telling me you wanted someone who could be there for you, and you could be there for them…I wanted so badly to tell you that it was right there in front of you."

"Like me in the freezer." She propped herself up on her elbows, leaning in to kiss Castle. She broke the kiss with a small grin, her fingers trailing Castle's lower lip. "But I'm here now."

Castle smiled. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Her smile grew until it reached its full brightness, and Kate snaked her fingers between his own. "So…" She squeezed his hand. "More than partners? More than friends?"

Castle leaned in for a long, deep, loving kiss, his eyes falling shut as they wrapped their arms around each other. She cooed against his lips when she felt his arms squeeze around her, deepening the kiss.

When their lips finally parted, Castle's smile reached his eyes.

"Always."


End file.
